Library Challenge # 3

I have worked with SIRS before, both from students ordering copies from the State Library (that really dates me!) and we had some issues years ago in our library.  I found them very useful for speech research, reports, and research papers.  Now that they are online, I think they will be so much more helpful for anyone doing research in any area.  When I was in the Discover edition I looked at several magazine articles.  Most had a photo, gave the reading level and lexile scores and the article also tells the reader if there are other related newspaper, magazine articles or websites.  There is also a dictionary and thesaurus and each individual article has a sort of outline on the left so the reader knows what information will be covered.  I chose to look up the Czech Republic (as I am of Czech descent) and found all sorts of facts including: population, flag, photo, map, facts about the country, geography, weather, economy, government and history.  The article also listed where to go for more information and also told how to cite the article in research.

In the Researcher edition I looked in several areas: Skills Discover, Fiction, Maps and Educator Resources.  I could see a classroom teacher using this site in the classroom for assignments, extra practice in certain areas, as grammar and math,  and for those students that are bright and need more things to do.  I chose Language Arts in the Curriculum Pathfinder and found the scope to be very broad.  It covers so much and I could see using this as another means of teaching a certain concept in the classroom.  Students who would like more practice in certain areas could use the this to prepare for tests too.